A/N: Hey guys! Ok..I know I sounded way too harsh in the authors note..and i noticed it as i reread it. i'm truly sorry if i offended you, but i just needed to get a point across. i hope nobody took it personally, and all i wanted was for you people to review a bit more often. plz don't be mad...i just felt desperate...and i am honestly sorry for being harsh.
i hope you guys keep reading my story!
Quintessence
Chapter 21
Perfect Children, House Elves, and Sun dresses?
Hermione heard the scream, and quickly covered her ears. After a few seconds, she uncovered her ears , and hearing nothing, she relaxed. She furrowed her brows in confusion, thinking of what could have caused the scream. She then though back to what Draco had said during their breakup, 'There's too much going on to deal with this. You are the least of my problems.'
Hermione's eyes glossed over with tears. Her mind was putting two and two together, and slowly, she could only think of one conclusion. One slow and painful conclusion.
Draco had gotten the Dark Mark.
And there was nothing she could to about it.
Draco woke up to searing pain in his arm. His body shot up, taking in his surroundings. He saw that he was in his bed. How he had gotten there, he had no idea.
His mind then started contemplating what he did the night before.
What an idiot.
He hadn't fought back, and now he was left with this mark, ugly might he add, but nonetheless, a mark. And it hurt like bloody hell.
And not only had he put his life in danger, but Hermione's too. He had also gotten her kidnaped. He was now a Death Eater, and the Order would have his head because they would think he was lying about being loyal.
Yep, life was just peachy. Hermione would think he wanted to be a Death Eater, then she wouldn't love him anymore, and then she wouldn't want to marry him...
Whoa...whoa...whoa...marry him?
Let's backtrack there. Marry him? Where was his head? He certainly didn't want to get married, and especially not anytime soon. I mean, he loved Hermione, but marry her?
Life was definitely getting better, now wasn't it?
He then started to imagine what married life would be like. He pictured himself coming home from work, Hermione greeting him at the door. His two perfect children..yes...perfect...would run down the stairs to greet their father. The four of them would have dinner and talk about what they did, and then he and Hermione would...erm.let's not go there.
Hell, married life sounded like a good idea to him. Fuck his father, if he got to come home to Hermione every night then life to him would be just perfect.
And there was nothing his good for nothing, lying, idiot for a father could do to change his mind.
His thoughts then drifted off to when Hermione had started S.P.E.W. He then thought back to getting married, he needed house elves, and Hermione wasn't going to change his idea on them.
When they got married, they would have house elves, in tea cozies, mind you, not sun dresses. Hermione would insist, but Draco would have none of that.
Yup, getting married definitely sounded like fun. Plus, the consummating of the marriage was just to delightful to pas up.
Draco dozed off pretty soon, having pleasant dreams of Hermione, his perfect children, and house elves in sun dresses...?
After what seemed like only a few hours, which in turn was about fourteen, Draco woke to the unpleasant feeling of his throbbing arm. He climbed out of bed and staggered over to his bathroom. He took quick shower, leaving his hair to fall lazily over his eyes. He trudged towards his wardrobe, slipped on some dark washed jeans and a beater, and made his way for the extravagant hallway. And just to his luck, he encountered his good-for-nothing father. His day was just getting started.
"I assume your mark hurts?" Lucius sneered.
"Like hell," Draco muttered.
"Good, then you won't have to get it done again. If it didn't hurt, then that would mean the spell didn't penetrate deep enough," Lucius explained.
"Yeah, well..."
"And be sure to get enough food, you never know when the Dark Lord would want to call on you for your loyalty quest," Lucius ordered.
"Yes," Draco mumbled.
Lucius just raised his chin even higher and walked swiftly past Draco, not even giving a second glance.
Draco just shook his head and laughed his way over to his mother's corner of the house. He reached her favorite room, the parlor, and walked in. He seated himself on one of the many plush chairs, looking around for his mother. His prayers were answered, unfortunately, when he heard hurried footsteps coming toward him, his mother's shoes clicking annoyingly.
"Oh, Draco! Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Narcissa asked, looking Draco over.
"Don't worry, mother, I'm fine."
"My poor baby! Did your father force you? He talked to me about it before...and I tried to stop him, Draco I really did, but he just wouldn't listen. Do you forgive me?" Narcissa pleaded, hugging Draco.
"Its not your fault, don't worry about it. Father is just missing a few major screws up here, that's all," Draco chuckled.
"Draco! Don't speak like that, your father may be cruel at times, but he is a very smart man, how do you think you got your good looks and wit?" Narcissa raised her eyebrows at him.
"Yeah, at least he's good for one thing," Draco muttered.
"Draco..." Narcissa warned.
"Sorry, sorry. I actually came here to tell you something, mother."
"And what would that be? Go on," she smiled, sitting down next to him.
"Well, did you hear of the prisoner Lucius captured?"
"Father, and yes. It was some mudblood from your school. I saw her, she looks very pretty," Narcissa giggled girlishly.
"Yes, well that mudblood you speak so harshly of is my girlfriend. I need to save her from father or else she's going to die in Voldemort's hands," Draco explained.
"Your girlfriend? Draco! You shouldn't be associating with people like that!" Narcissa cried.
"Mother! She's smarter then I'll ever be, and she needs to be saved. I love her for Merlin's sake!"
"Love her? Draco...Draco...you need to learn. Your father will have your head if he finds out your with that...girl. Now is she really worth risking your life for?" Narcissa asked solemnly.
Draco thought about that. They had been through so much together, everything from his father beating him to Potter harassing her. He nodded to himself. She was worth it, he was in love with this girl and he was going to save her, no matter what the cost.
"Yes," Draco replied.
Narcissa snapped her head up. Her son just said that he would risk his life for some girl. Her baby was growing up! But, her pureblood pride got in the way, "Draco, you have to be really sure about this, after you make this decision, there's no turning back. The wrath of your father is hard to avoid, so think about this."
"I already made my decision, mother. Now let's leave it at that. Don't dwell on my life, it's not worth it."
"I'm your mother, that's what I do," Narcissa smiled, conjuring up some tea.
Hermione opened her eyes groggily, wondering just how long she had been down here in this horrible dungeon. She crawled over to the prison door, and peeked through one of the many openings, probably from prisoners trying to escape.
She saw many house elves scurrying around, placing spells on the grimy walls to clean them. She assumed Lucius had sent them down, probably just to spite her. Draco probably had told him about S.P.E.W. back when they hated each other. Hermione scoffed and crawled back to her corner.
She then burst into tears, thinking about how long she's been away from Draco. She couldn't handle it, and she didn't know why. It was a new feeling, even for her. She's never loved someone as much as she loved Draco, and now that she's been away from him so long, she's now witnessed how poor Romeo and Juliet handled their lives.
Hermione cried herself into a dreamless sleep, hoping to sleep away the pain and waiting.
Draco finished writing to Blaise. He then picked up the letter and reread it, just to make sure that he put it into terms Blaise would understand.
Blaise-
What up, man? It's been hell here. I advise you to never get the Dark Mark. It's like walking into hell and kissing the devil's feet. Except, the devil is actually there. Now, don't worry about me, I'm fine. Even though my father is treating me like bloody royalty just because I agreed to the loyalty quest.that was just a spur of the moment decision, considering every Death Eater had their wand pointed at me. Hermione is in a dungeon, but I'm doing everything I can to get her out. It's just 'gonna take some time, my father has been watching me like a hawk. I think he knows. I hope everyone isn't killing themselves just to find us, tell them we're fine and that we'll be out as soon as we can.
- Draco
Draco smirked to himself, placed the letter inside the envelope, sealed it with the Malfoy seal, and sent it off with the family's black owl, Ania.
"Dude, your still doing that homework? It was assigned like, what? Five years ago!" Blaise cried as he sat down next to Ron.
"Well, with Hermione gone, it's a lot harder. I'm used to her checking it over and doing like half of it. Now that she's kidnaped, I'm probably 'gonna fail this homework," Ron sighed.
Blaise shook his head. "You rely on her to do all your homework? No wonder your so dumb. I bet Crabbe and Goyle are better off than you."
"Nah uh. Those guys are dumber than a box of rocks. I don't know if they're really human," Ron muttered.
"At least they do their own homework," Blaise teased.
"Oh, shut up," Ron scoffed.
Blaise just laughed and looked up at the window, where he saw a small black owl hooting and tapping. He walked over and noticed that it was the Malfoy family owl. He petted the bird softly as he untied the letter from it's leg. He walked back over to the couch and ripped open the envelope.
He read the letter over and sighed, "They're alright."
"Who's alright?" Ron asked.
"Draco and Granger. Drake said that Hermione's in a dungeon-," he was interrupted.
"In a dungeon? How does that fall under the category of 'all right!'" Ron cried.
"-Let me finish. She's being well taken care of, under watch of Draco. Drake got the Dark Mark...aww fuck, he's screwed. And then he said not to worry, and to not tell Dumbledore, because they got it under control, and to make sure that nobody dies while looking for them," Blaise laughed.
"I think that could be considered fine," Ron nodded, "But just to make sure, shouldn't we write back and ask for Hermione to write something?"
"No, because it would probably get intercepted. I know every trick in the book, Weasley, I've known that family for my whole life. Mr. Malfoy and my father are tight. Don't know why...there's not much to him," Blaise shook his head disapprovingly.
"Okay...okay. Just making a suggestion," Ron went back to his homework.
"Did you see that new girl, Thalia?" Blaise smirked. "She's a hot piece of ass."
"Yeah..she hasn't even noticed me, so I'm not 'gonna even try," Ron sighed.
"Go after her, man, if we all waited for girls to notice us, then we wouldn't even be here because there wouldn't be anybody shagging for us to be made!"
"That was disturbing," Ron cringed.
"So? It's the truth. If you want, I can hook you two up," Blaise wiggled his eyebrows.
"What are you? The matchmaker?"
"You never know." Blaise teased in a sing-song voice.
"Whatever, do what you want, but if you embarrass me at least once, then your dead!"
"I'll be sure to take out the baby pictures," Blaise laughed.
"Zabini..." Ron warned.
"Whatever, man, I know. Now go get dolled up...God knows you need it," Blaise cringed.
"Don't even finish that...jeez...is everybody turning gay?"
Draco sprinted down the stairs towards the dungeons. His father was finally out of the house and he could actually get more than a minute with Hermione, alone. He just hoped his mother wouldn't want to be formally introduced.
He reached her cell and opened the door. He found her asleep. He leaned down, placing a kiss on her forehead. She stirred slightly, but drifted back to sleep.
Draco kissed her cheek, and then along her jaw line. He stopped at her lips and lingered there a bit.
Hermione's eyes opened groggily, looking up into Draco's silvery eyes. Hermione smiled slightly.
"I haven't seen you in a such a long time," Hermione sighed, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck, keeping him there.
Draco placed his elbows on both sides of her face, balancing himself, "I missed you. My father is gone. I think we could make an escape, if we could figure out how to get those bloody chains off."
"Ask your mum, or maybe a house elf knows," Hermione shrugged.
"I think it would be a bit more complicated then that, because why would my father let a house elf know?" Draco asked incredulously.
"I don't know, we could try. And what are you hinting at? House elves have a stronger and deeper magic than ours, so don't even start," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"I'm sorry," Draco chuckled, "We could try, there's not harm in that."
"You agree? Wow, I never thought I would live to see the day a Malfoy agrees to talk to a house elf," Hermione giggled.
"Ah...I haven't heard that giggle in such a long time. God, I've missed you," he leaned down and placed his lips at her ear, "In more ways than one," he smirked.
Hermione just raised her eyebrows and kissed his cheek, "How about we at least try to get this thing off?" Hermione pushed Draco off of her and leaned forward, examining the brace.
"Well, try Alohamora," Hermione suggested.
Draco waved his wand, muttering the spell. The wand just shook a bit.
"Any other unlocking spells?"
Draco tried a few others, none working, "We're out of luck," Draco sighed.
"No, we're not. Go fetch one of your house elves," Hermione pointed towards the door.
"Fetch? Have you finally admitted that house elves are supposed to be enslaved?"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Hermione stated simply, leaning back against the wall.
Draco walked out and came back with his mother...ugh...and a small house elf.
Narcissa leaned over and whispered to Draco, "This is the mud-muggle born that is supposedly your girlfriend?"
"Yes," Draco muttered quietly.
Narcissa just nodded and walked over to Hermione.
"So, you're my son's girlfriend," she sneered.
Hermione's eyes widened and looked up at Draco.
"She knows," Draco mouthed.
Hermione simply nodded, her attention turning back to Narcissa, "Yes, I am."
"You're very pretty. But I don't see why Draco would want to be with you," Narcissa sighed.
"Mother!" Draco muttered.
"Draco, darling, I have to do this. Do you know what could happen to you, but also me and your lovely girlfriend, if your father finds out?" Narcissa asked incredulously.
"Yes, but this isn't the time for formalities. Help me get this chain off so we can get back to school!" Draco cried.
"Yes, well. It's simple really. Have one of the house elves explain. I'm already running late for a Gin and Poker party," Narcissa brushed him off as she walked out, heels clicking.
Draco sighed, banging his head lightly against the stone wall.
"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Hermione asked.
"Guess there's not harm in it," Draco mumbled, turning to the house elf. The elf, Olive, cowered and backed up away from Draco.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Now do you know how to get this chain off?" Draco asked sweetly.
"Olive knows, yes she does. But Master Lucius makes Olive swear not tell no one sir, not one. Olive get fired if Master finds out. Mudblood should not be let out, no, she shouldn't," she explained quickly.
"Master Lucius will not find out, I give you my word. And this muggle born is my girlfriend. You will let her out, it's an order," Draco instructed, stepping aside so the elf could see the chain.
"But Sir! Olive is not allowed to, sir! Please, Olive don't want to. Olive get in trouble!" she whimpered.
"No, you won't, just please help us!" Draco pleaded.
Olive looked at Hermione, who was crying slightly. Then she looked back at Draco, who was glaring daggers.
"Olive only do this for sir, sir won't tell Master, no, he won't?"
"I give you my word," Draco stated firmly.
He felt an invisible tug, and then Olive waved her hands. The chain broke off of Hermione's ankle. Hermione cried in pure elation and jumped up into Draco's arms. Draco swung her around. He started kissing her everywhere he could reach.
"We're free!" they cried in unison.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! I know I got them out a bit too fast..but old Voldie's time will come..do not worry. next chapter is gonna be very long..cuz im gonna have alot of info in it..and dont underestimate me when i say..ALOT! keep up the reviews guys...its really helping me update faster.